Carton



' Aug. 1950 A. RINGLER 50,043

' CARTON Filed April 2, 1956 FIG-1 s sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR. WILLIAM A.RINGLER ATTORNEYS Aug. 23, 1960 w. A. RINGLER CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed April 2, 1956 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM A.RINGLER ATTORNEYS w. A. RINGLER 2,950,043

Aug. 23, 1960 CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet} Filed April 2. 1956 FIG-9 FIG-13RINVENTOR. WILLIAM A. RINGLER BY M1, M, M 9' ATTORNEYS United CARTONFiled Apr. 2, 1956, Ser. No. 575,530

1 Claim. Cl. 229-44 This invention relates to a carton, particularly toa carton having a reclosable lid.

The carton provided by this invention is intended primarily for use inpackaging cigarettes and similar rodlike articles, although this cartoncan be readily adapted to the packaging of other materials. There are inpresent use many cigarette packing machines manufactured by The AmericanMachine and Foundry Company of New York and known commercially as theAMP 379 standard cigarette packer, such machines being generally asshown in United States Patent 1,926,192. These machines are at presentused to provide the well known cigarette package comprising an innerfoil wrap and an outer paper pouch which is in turn covered with acellophane Wrapper.

Cigarette cartons having integral hinged lids heretofore proposed havemet with little commercial success largely due to the fact that theyare, generally speaking, not adaptable to the folding operations of theAMP standard packing machine, and the conversion of these machines foruse with such cartons has either not been possible or has beenprohibitive from the standpoint of cost. In spite of the fact that areclosable lid type of carton provides many advantages from thestandpoint of neatness of appearance and resistance to crushing duringhandling and use the packaging industry, particularly with regard tocigarette packaging, has largely continued the use of the present wellknown cigarette package and has not enjoyed the paperboard type ofpackage.

Therefore, the primary object of this invention is to provide a blankfor forming a carton having a reclosable lid and which is adaptable tothe high speed folding and packaging operations of folding and packagingmachines now in general use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a cartonblank including an inner member comprised of three panels hinged to oneside of the outer panels of the blank and arranged for folding onto themain or outer side wall panels, leaving the inner panels free to sliderelative to the outer panels during folding of the carton blank intotubular form.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton in accordance withthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank with the inner member superimposedupon the main portion of the blank;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the blank preparatory to folding thereofabout a mandrel on a high speed machine for packaging cigarettes and thelike;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing an intermediate folding step;

Fig. 5 is a partial perspective view showing folding operations on thetop flaps of the carton;

'Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the loading of the carton through themandrel;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the bottom of the carton, showingclosing of the bottom flaps;

Fig. 8 is a partial perspective view of the completed carton with thereclosable lid in an open position;

Fig. 9 shows a completed carton formed from the blank of Fig. 1;

Fig. '10 is a perspective view of a cigarette package incorporating thecarton shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 shows the package in an intermediate step of opening;

Fig. 12 is a partial perspective view of the package completely opened;and

Fig. 13 is a plan view of an inner foil blank which may be incorporatedas an inner wrapper in the package of Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, the blank includes a relatively wide rear panel10 at one end thereof having a narrower outer side panel 12 hinged toone side of panel 10 along the score line 13. A wide outer front panel15 is connected to the opposite side of panel 12 along score line 16,and the other narrow outer side panel 18 is attached to the oppositeside of panel 15 along a score line 19. A glue flap 2% is hinged at 21to the other edge of panel 18 for connection with rear panel 10 toretain the blank in tubular form. A series of top flaps 22, 23, 24 and25 are independently hinged to the upper edges of panels 10, 12, 15 and13, respectively, for forming a top wall on the carton. The outerpanels, which constitute the main portion of the blank in Fig. 1, areprovided with slitted and scored portions for the formation of areclosable lid on the completed carton. A continuous slit is providedthrough panels 12, 15 and 18 including a central portion 30 extendinghorizontally across front panel 15 parallel to and spaced below theupper edge thereof, and slanted or bias-cut portions 31 and 32 extendingfrom opposite ends of slit portion 31 upwardly at an angle across panels12 and 18, toward but spaced below the upper edges of these outer sidepanels. A score line 33 extends transversely of rear panel ll), spacedfrom the upper edge thereof and intersecting the end of slit portion 31,and a score line 33 is also providedacross glue flap 20, intersectingthe end of slit portion 32 and located on the glue flap to register withscore line 33 when the blank is folded into tubular form. Thus, thecontinuous slit and the associated score lines 33v and 33 divide themain portion of the blank into upper and lower sections, with thesections of the blank between the upper edge thereof and the slit andscore lines providing front, side, rear and top walls of a reclosablelid which is hinged to the carton along line 33. The portions of theblank below the slit and score line are foldable to provide an open topbox to which the reclosable lid is integrally hinged. The bottom wallfor the box is provided by flaps 34, 35, 36 and 37 foldably connected tothe bottom edges of the outer front, rear and side panels, and flap 34includes a cut-away portion 38' in its outer edge, the purpose of whichwill be described below in connection with the folding operations.

The blank also includes a series of three inner panels all ofsubstantially less height than the outer panels and hinged together. inside by side relation to provide an inner member in the assembledcarton. Thus, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the inner front panel 40 hasinner side panels 42 and 43 hinged to opposite sides thereof along foldlines 44 and 45, respectively. A spacing tab 48 is connected along foldline 49 to the opposite side of panel 42 from inner front panel 40, andat its other side the spacing tab is hinged along line 50 to the upperside edge of glue flap 20, to provide a folding connection between theinner andouter members of the blank with the inner member panelsextending in the flat form shown in Fig.

1 to one side of the outer member and generally in alignment with theslitted portions ofthe outer front and side panels.

The width of spacing tab 48 corresponds to the width of glue flap 20,and similarly the'widths of the'inner panels 40, 42-and 43 correspondgenerally to the widths of the outer front and side panels 12, and 18,although the inner panels are slightly 'lessin width than correspondingouter panels to provide-for enfolding of the inner member within theouter or main portion of-the blank in the assembled carton. The innermember, including spacing tab 48, is thus adapted for folding as a unitalong fold line 50 into superposition upon the outer member, extendingacross the slits V30, 31 and 32 toward the center of the inner memberand upwardly just short of the upper edge of outer panels 1 2, 15and-1'8. The upper edge 52 of tab 48 is cut on a bias away from innerside panel 42' to free the score line 33i"-in glue flapfor foldingmovement, and thus the hinged connection of the lid to the open boxportion of the carton, is not impaired by interference from the innerpanel members.

The free upper edge of inner front panel 40 is provided with a centralcutaway portion 55 which affords a frontal access opening in thecompleted carton facilitating grasping of articles to be removedtherefrom. Portions of the fold lines 44 and 45, along which the innerfront and side panels are hinged, are offset and slit to provide tabs 56extending outwardly from opposite sides of panel 40 and within the lid.These tabs assist in retaining the lid of the carton in its normallyclosed position, as will presently be described.

The carton blank of this invention is particularly adaptable to thefolding'operations of high speed packaging machines, for example,machines of the type shown in above mentioned United States Patent1,926,192. The blanks such as in Fig. 1 may be fed from a suitablemagazine, andfolding mechanism may be arranged to superimpose the innermember upon the outer member, as shown in Fig. 2. From the conditionshown in Fig. 2 a series of only four folds are requiredto tube. theblank, that is, to assemble it in open tubular form. The upper portionsof the inner member overlie the continuous slit through panels 12, 15and 18, and the free upper edges of the inner panels are positionedimmediately below the upper edges of these panels, providingcontinuations of the front and sides of the open top box referred toabove which extend into the closable lid of the carton.

The sequence of steps shown in Figs. 3-7 illustrate the forming of acarton from the blank shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows a hollow mandrel 65of the type described and illustrated in the above mentioned patent, forexample, in Figs. 33-37 thereof. A sheet of foil 70 having a perforation72 extending across] one of its ends, is wrapped about the mandrel inthe usual manner. Such a foil sheet is shown in plan in Fig. 13 of thisapplication.

The carton blank, with the inner and outer members folded together, ispositioned against the mandrel with the inner front panel 40 abuttingone of the larger flat faces thereof and overlying foil sheet 70,preferably on the side edges thereof, and with the inner memberextending over perforation 72. The side panels of the blank are thenfolded around the smaller sides of the mandrel asshown in Fig. 4. Duringthis folding step there will be a slight amount of relative movementbetween facing inner and outer panels, but. since the inner panels, areof slightly less width than the outer panels, and since they are notfixed to the outer side panels, there is no resistance to such slidingmovement. Suitable ad: hesive is applied to the outer face of glue flap20, as in- 4 blank is folded into open tubular form about the mandrel.

The top wall is next formed by folding flaps 23 and inwardly over thefoil, as shown in Fig. 5. Flap 22 is then folded across the end of thecarton in the direction of arrow 75, and finally flap 24 is folded overin the direction of arrow 76 and adhered to the outer surface of flap 22by a suitable adhesive (not shown). With the top wall of the cartonformed, the articles to be packaged, for example, cigarettes indicatedgenerally at 80 in Fig. .6, are pushed into the interior of the hollowmandrel by a plunger 82, and the stroke of the plunger is extended untilthe cigarettes abut the now closed top wall of the dicated by thestippled portions in Fig. 4, and the glue flap is then folded along line21 onto the other large side of the mandrel as indicated by arrow 73,and finally rear panel It} is folded in the direction of arrow 74 intocontact with glue flap 20 for adherence thereto. Thus, the

carton and push the entire assembly of the carton, foil and cigarettesoff the hollow mandrel.

The lower side flaps 35 and 37 are next tucked inwardly over the bottomof the carton, and the flap 34 is folded over as shown in Fig. 7 to foldthe part of the foil overlying that flap across the bottom of thecarton. Finally, flap 36 is folded over across the bottom of the carton,carrying with it the remaining portion of the foil. Flaps '36 and 34 aresecured together by a suitable adhesive (not shown) to complete theforming of the carton. Due to the provision of cut-away portion 38 inflap 34, when that flap is folded downwardly portions of the foil sheetfoldedalong with it remain uncovered in the center of the bottom of thepackage, as shown in Fig. 7. When flap 36 is folded over, the foilfolded in by this movement contacts the foil uncovered by the cut-awayportion 38, and thus none of the carton material comes into contact withthe contents packaged .within the carton. The completed carton is shownin Fig. 9 with the lid in its closed position, and in Fig. 8 the upperportion of the carton is shown with the lid swung to its open position.The cut-away portion 55 provides an access opening in the upper frontaledge of the open top box portion of the carton. The height of panel 40is such that the free upper edges thereof at the corners of the boxintersect the arc through which the front wall of the lid swings abovehinge line 33, and thus a certain amount of force is required to slidethe front wallof the lid over the upper edge of the box. In addition,tabs 56 engage the front corners of the lid and assist in retaining it'in its normally closed position.

' The-present invention has been described in connection with cigarettepackage machines, but it is to be understood that'the cartons providedby the invention are adaptable to use in any number of high speedpackaging machines. For example, the blank as in Fig. 2 can be assembledinto flat folded tubular form for shipping and/ or storage, and in thisform the blanks are adaptable to use in high speed packaging machineswhich erect the fiat tubed blank, form the bottom wall thereon, fill theerected carton, and finally form the top wall from the top flap thereof.Such folding of the blank into flat folded or flat tubed form may bereadily accomplished in conventional high speed gluing and foldingmachines by applying a suitable adhesive with a glue roll or the like tothe under surface of glue flap 20, as viewed in Fig. 2, then folding theglue flap and connected side panel 18 over onto front panel 15 and innerfront panel 40 along fold lines 19 and 44, and finally folding over rearpanel 10 along fold line 13 onto the glue flap for adherence thereto.

The carton provided by the invention is particularly adapted to thepackaging of cigarettes, and Fig. 10 illustrates such a cigarettepackage in which the closed carton is covered with an outer wrapper ofregenerated cellulose, cellophane, or similar suitable transparentmaterial. A tear strip 92 is preferably incorporated in this wrapper inthe usual manner, and is located in the completed package to extendacross the central slit portion 30 and around the periphery of thecarton at the same level as slit 30'.

A Thus, when the tear strip is pulled the portion of the outer wrapperabove this strip may be removed, as shown in Fig. 11, and the lid of thecarton opened. The inner foil wrapper 70 is provided within the cartonto enclose the cigarettes, and this foil includes the weakened orperforated line 72 extending around its entire periphery, as shown inthe blank illustration of the foil in Fig. 13. Perforations 72 arelocated to extend across the upper end of the package, preferablyapproximately midway between the upper and lower ends of access opening55'. Thus, the upper section of the foil wrapper above perfora tion line72 may be removed to provide access to the cigarettes, the resultantopen package of cigarettes being shown in Fig. 12. The reclosable lidfor the carton provides easy access to the cigarettes at all times, yetkeeps them enclosed and thus relatively fresh. Furthermore, the stiffstock from which the carton component of the package is made isresistant to crushing and affords ample protection to the cigarettesduring normal handling. This protection is particularly important in thepackaging of cigarettes having special tips incorporating filters andthe like, since such tips usually are of greater stifiness than theremainder of the cigarette and thus subject to breaking off from thecigarette when the package is crushed in such a way as to bend thecigarettes.

Thus, the present invention provides a carton having a reclosable lidwhich is simple and economical to manufacture and assemble, and which isparticularly adaptable to use with high speed folding and packagingmachines now in general use. As a specific example, the carton may beutilized in packaging operations with machines such as the AMP 3-79Standard Cigarette Packer, without requiring any extensive modificationof the machine. These machines can operate at a rate of approximately120 packages per minute when packaging cigarettes or similar articles.The present invention, therefore, provides a carton which is readilyadaptable to present day packaging operations.

Also, since the outer front panels of the carton blank are continuousacross the slits 30, there is no problem of registry between adjacentportions of the box portions and the lid portions of the cartons when itis desired to print upon the outer surface of the blanks.

While the form of article herein described constitutes a preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to this precise form of article, and that changes may bemade therein without departing from the scope of the invention which isdefined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A blank for forming a carton with a reclosable lid for packaging ofcigarettes and similar articles comprising, an outer member includingouter rear, side, front and side panels and a glue flap connected inthat order in side by side hinged relation, said outer panels havingflaps extending from the upper and lower edges thereof for forming topand bottom walls on the carton, a slit extending transversely of saidouter side and front panels spaced below the upper edge thereof, a scoreline across said rear panel spaced below the upper edge thereof andintersecting that end of said slit in the adjacent side panel, a threepanel inner member providing inner front and side panels connected sideby side and of widths slightly less than the corresponding outer frontand side panels, said inner panels all being of a height substantiallyless than said outer panels, a spacing tab corresponding in width tosaid glue flap and connecting one of said inner side panels with saidglue flap, said tab positioning said inner panels in aligned face toface relation with the corresponding outer front and side panels andcovering said slit therein, and said inner panels being free of directconnection with the corresponding outer panels as said inner panels aresuperimposed on said outer panels providing for relative movementtherebetween during folding of the blank into tubular form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS887,729 Kirmse May 12, 1908 2,163,828 Chalmers June 27, 1939 2,396,150Bonville Mar. 5, 1946 2,473,055 Guyer June 14, 1949

